Stealing a march on coolness of artistry

Gary Munro

FANCY stealing a Banksy, with no consequences other than not being able to keep it?

The renowned and highly sought-after English street artist will have a work, No Ball Games, on display from today across the three Art Series hotels in Melbourne - The Cullen, The Blackman and The Olsen - with guests at the respective hotels being offered the chance to, well, nick it - if they can find it.

A clever marketing ploy, for sure, but the StealBanksy concept is in keeping with the artist's guerilla approach - he's been known to subversively insert his work into exhibitions, and has made a career of stencilling in places where it was least expected, Melbourne included. His anonymity has helped, fuelled in no small part by the hugely entertaining 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, in which he appears in shadow with his voice digitally altered.

The deal is this: hotel guests are invited to find the artwork - one wouldn't think it will be hanging in the lobby by the door - steal it, and if they're caught it's returned to the wall; if they're successful in stashing it until the January 15 deadline, then they get to keep it - a reasonable outcome for a work that's valued at $15,000.

Obviously, there are rules. As the terms and conditions state: ''If we catch you, and ask you to stop and put it back, then you have to stop and put it back. Don't steal or damage anything else in the hotel, be a polite, respectful and sophisticated art crook with an eye for a good Banksy and the whole thing will work a treat.'' The best bit: ''Be cool. Art thieves are always cool.''

Here's hoping it won't suffer the same fate as an earlier work along similar lines. In 2007 in London, keen ''thieves'' took to a wall on which Banksy had stencilled No Ball Games, removing a section with an angle grinder.